1. Technical Field
The subject invention relates to vehicular seat assembly movable between an upright seating or occupant receiving position to a folded position for providing additional floor space within a vehicle.
2. Background of the Invention
Consumer demand for more versatile vehicular seating assemblies has been the focus of recent development. For example, many recreation vehicles and vans have increasingly incorporated removable and retractable seating assemblies which can be adapted between a number of various seating configurations including those which increase the cargo and floor space area within a vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,022,698 to Butt et al.; 4,925,229 to Siebler; 4,484,779 to Suzuki; 4,606,577 to Hirama et al.; 4,869,541 to Wainwright; 3,880,464 to Murphy et al.; and 4,627,656 to Gokimoto et al. all disclose seat assemblies which include latch mechanisms which unlock the seat portion of a seat assembly from a vehicle and which also cooperate with the backrest of the seat assembly in order to permit folding of the seat assembly.
Although many seat assemblies of the prior art include latch mechanisms which simultaneously unlock both the seat portion and backrest of a seat assembly, such assemblies still require substantial physical manipulation to fold the seat assembly to a retracted or stored position. Thus, a folding vehicular seat assembly which is more easily manipulated between folded and occupant receiving positions is desired.